Delhi will face an uphill task to hold off Mumbai’s juggernauts as the two teams meet here at Arun Jaitley Stadium in the Ranji Trophy clash.
After five rounds he said the fate of the two teams could not have been more different.
Delhi are battling relegation with just five points, while Mumbai, who have won three, are likely to qualify for the knockout rounds and are among the frontrunners for the title given the form of some of their players.
The lack of depth in bowling has been Delhi’s Achilles heel this season.
None of the fast front-line bowlers were available and no bowler had taken more than nine wickets. Maharashtra and Andorra.
Mumbai, on the other hand, performed well by his duo of Thanush his Kotian (19 wickets) and Shams his Murani (35 wickets) spins. Left-arm spinner Murani is the second highest wicket taker in the Ranji Trophy this season, behind Kerala’s Jaraji Saxena.
sensational show
But the center of attention will be Prithvi Shaw, who hit his 379 against Assam in the previous tournament in Mumbai.
Hitting giant Ajin Karahane is also in the running after hitting 2 tons this season and he hit 191.
Opening match Yashasvi his Jaiswal will not be available for this match due to injury. Suryakumar Yadav and Shardul Thakur are members of India’s squad for the One-Day International series against New Zealand and will be absent. Dhruv Shorey has three centuries (including an undefeated double) and two and a half centuries, the brightest of any Delhi hitter.
The team is also buoyed by the performance of center hitter Himat Singh in the previous game against Andorra.
His 104 went a long way in giving Delhi an unlikely first innings lead after Andhra was stuck on his 459.
A likely loss means the final round of the group stage will be crucial for Delhi in the plate battle for relegation back into his group.
Only Chandigarh (3 points) and Nagaland (1 point) currently have fewer points than Delhi. After 7 rounds, the 2 teams with the fewest points from the teams in the elite group will be relegated. The Meteorological Department of India has issued a severe cold wave warning over the next week. Mornings can be difficult for hitters to negotiate and difficult for fielders to catch the ball, especially when faced with fast bowling.
SQUADS
Delhi: Yash Dhull (c), Anuj Rawat (wk), Ayush Badoni, Harshit Rana, Himmat Singh, Lalit Yadav, Nitish Rana, Vaibhav Rawal, Hrithik Shokeen, Dhruv Shorey, Shivank Vashisht, Pranshu Vijayran, Vikas Mishra, Mayank Yadav.
Mumbai: Ajinkya Rahane (c), Prithvi Shaw, Tanush Kotian, Hardik Tamore (wk), Sarfaraz Khan, Tushar Deshpande, Shams Mulani, Armaan Jaffer, Shashank Attarde, Mohit Awasthi, Musheer Khan, Royston Dias, Prasad Pawar, Suved Parkar, Dhrumil Matkar, Deepak Shetty.